Epitaxial deposition of Zn (002) for stable zinc metal anodes

The prosperity of aqueous rechargeable Zn-based batteries is largely confined by the discontent performance of zinc anodes. Uncontrollable Zn dendrite is the first to be ascribed, however, the control of deposited crystal phase and crystallography is one effective solution. Here, aimed at the close-packed growth of Zn (002) plane parallel to anode surface, we propose a zincophilic and lattice-matched texture on Zn foil surface, MgO (1 1 1), to regulating Zn deposition behavior. The strong binding energy between Zn atom and MgO (111) plane along with the good lattice match of Zn (002) and MgO (1 1 1) plane lead to the good heterogenous epitaxial alignment. And then the layer-by-layer growth of Zn (002) has been achieved to obtain dendrite-free Zn anode. The specific anode surface can not only afford stable dissolution/deposition for 1250 h at 1 mA h cm-2 with high voltage tolerance (25 mV) in symmetric cells, but also is compatible to V2O5 cathode in full cells. The conception of lattice-matched crystal orientation texture could be the intrinsic solution to metal anodes.